Today I had my first huge accomplishment (besides surviving the whole getting to Bolivia thing) I traveled by myself to the children´s hospital (my work). This was huge! I walk down a street which is cobblestone and steep down down to a main road where I stand on a corner and wait for the public transportation. The public transportation is comprised of mini bus and Trofi (car). They have signs on t
he windshield which say where the vehicles are going. I look for Oborajes (sp?) to take me to the hospital. As they approach me, a person, usually a child, holds open the door and yells out the names of the destinations. I nod or wave my arm and hop in the car quickly as it leaves. I pay the designated amount when we head down the hill, $2 bolivianos (7 Bolivianos = $1). When we reach my destination I yell ¨Abajo!¨ which means ¨down¨and the car pulls over and I hop out. There are no bus stops so yes it is quite chaotic! So after being very impressed with myself for making it to my work solo I had some difficulty getting back.
One of my housemates, Amy, was suppose to be meeting me at work.. however after an hour of waiting I got impatient and decided I would just go home. After standing on the street for 10min. waiting for a trophy or mini bus and not seeing ¨Oborajes¨I realized that of course I would not see that because I was currently in Oborajes and what I needed was to get home... of course, I forgot the name of the area in which I live. I decided to call my coordinator who I had to convince her I did not need her assistance. As I tried to call my coordinator using my new Bolivian number, instead of hearing a ring tone, I was greeted with some woman speaking spanish... ahuh sooo I must be out of minutes. So I wandered around, found a kiosk that sells minute cards and managed enough spanish to purchase a card. OH but then there was the getting the minute credit from the card to my phone! soooooo as I paced back and forth staring at this card in one hand and my phone in the other hand, I looked up
and saw Amy walking toward me on the opposite side of the street. THANK YOU GOD! Glory a Dios! Together we figured it out and continued for an adventurous day.
The first photo is the view from across the street from where I live. The 2nd is the mini bus and the 3rd is me with the traffic zebra which is Bolivia´s solution to the traffic problem in La Paz.
he windshield which say where the vehicles are going. I look for Oborajes (sp?) to take me to the hospital. As they approach me, a person, usually a child, holds open the door and yells out the names of the destinations. I nod or wave my arm and hop in the car quickly as it leaves. I pay the designated amount when we head down the hill, $2 bolivianos (7 Bolivianos = $1). When we reach my destination I yell ¨Abajo!¨ which means ¨down¨and the car pulls over and I hop out. There are no bus stops so yes it is quite chaotic! So after being very impressed with myself for making it to my work solo I had some difficulty getting back.One of my housemates, Amy, was suppose to be meeting me at work.. however after an hour of waiting I got impatient and decided I would just go home. After standing on the street for 10min. waiting for a trophy or mini bus and not seeing ¨Oborajes¨I realized that of course I would not see that because I was currently in Oborajes and what I needed was to get home... of course, I forgot the name of the area in which I live. I decided to call my coordinator who I had to convince her I did not need her assistance. As I tried to call my coordinator using my new Bolivian number, instead of hearing a ring tone, I was greeted with some woman speaking spanish... ahuh sooo I must be out of minutes. So I wandered around, found a kiosk that sells minute cards and managed enough spanish to purchase a card. OH but then there was the getting the minute credit from the card to my phone! soooooo as I paced back and forth staring at this card in one hand and my phone in the other hand, I looked up
and saw Amy walking toward me on the opposite side of the street. THANK YOU GOD! Glory a Dios! Together we figured it out and continued for an adventurous day.The first photo is the view from across the street from where I live. The 2nd is the mini bus and the 3rd is me with the traffic zebra which is Bolivia´s solution to the traffic problem in La Paz.
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